Speakers at the event, held at London’s Mansion House last night (Wednesday 22 February 2023) included John Flint, CEO of the UK Infrastructure Bank; Michael Izza, ICAEW Chief Executive; and Mo Merali, Grant Thornton’s Head of Private Equity and chair of the Corporate Finance Faculty.
Lord Leigh of Hurley presented the award to RS Group’s Chair Baroness Rona Fairhead and acting CEO, David Egan.
RS Group, a UK-registered global provider of industrial and electronic products, was awarded the annual prize for the value it added for shareholders through its M&A activity following substantial strategic market acquisitions.
The annual prize recognises companies for their successful use of M&A to increase growth and shareholder value and outperform the market, using a methodology devised by the ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty in partnership with Bayes Business School.
David Petrie, Head of Corporate Finance, ICAEW, said:
“RS Group’s strategic acquisitions, and the value these have created, demonstrates what M&A is all about and I congratulate them for their win. Their success - despite the challenging economic circumstances - shows that there is still cause for optimism and deals are very much still being made.
“We're very proud to be celebrating 25 years of the Corporate Finance Faculty and marking the impact we have had in that time. My colleagues and I were delighted to be joined by members from across business, government and the profession, and we look forward to working on their behalf for many more years to come.”
David Egan, Acting Chief Executive Officer, RS Group, said:
“It is an honour to be recognised by ICAEW for our M&A activity – particularly given previous recipients of the award. The quality of our acquisitions reflects the strength of our clear selection criteria and strong disciplined approach, ensuring our M&A focuses on three key areas to accelerate our organic growth.
“Finally, we could not have achieved this recognition without the huge effort between our Corporate Development team, businesses and functions, who are committed to achieving our vision of being first choice for all our stakeholders, including generating long-term sustainable value for our shareholders.”
Previous winners of the Corporate Development Award have included the London Stock Exchange Group, Weir Group and Intertek.
Delivering the keynote speech on the evening, the UK Infrastructure Bank’s Chief Executive John Flint set out an assessment of the route to achieving net zero by 2050, including the role of the Government owned policy bank he leads, which has a dual mission of helping tackle climate change and driving regional and local economic growth.
John Flint, Chief Executive of the UK Infrastructure Bank, said:
“With net zero the opportunity and the challenge are vast in broadly equal measure. We are only going to get there by 2050 if the private and public sectors come together. I hope the UK Infrastructure Bank can be a catalyst, and it is a privilege to be able to set out some thoughts on the route to 2050 to members of the Institute.
“Climate and sustainability issues are front and centre of the Institute’s strategy, so I know there is significant potential for collaboration here.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Contact: ICAEW media office stephen.froome@icaew.com or 07970 402 073